good value tool kit?

[mr Mag00]

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ProductDeta...D=5360031530&N=LifeLine Professional Tool Kit

 

[Monst]

no.

Lidl are doing a basic kit for £20 next week. Any tools needed above the Lidl kit can be bought cheaply - certainly not for the £70 wiggle want!!!

The lidl stuff has more than enuff for the home mechanic.

 

[Mortiroloboy]

I purchased the Lidl tool kit 2years ago, it has all the tools I need for the jobs I'd undertake, brilliant VFM. Lifeline does an identical toolkit for more than twice the price, get down to www.lidl.com you know it makes sense!

 

[andy_wrx]

The Lidl tools will presumably be cheap (and some of them may be nasty...)

Some will say cheap tools are a waste of time and money, you should buy decent stuff, that cheap tools will break or will damage your bike.

Fair enough, I agree, but any comprehensive toolkit will include some tools you use a lot, some you use once in a blue moon, some you never use.

I'd buy the Lidl one, work-out what you use a lot (allen keys, screwdriver, pliers, cable cutter, etc) and buy them in a decent make.
(plus anything you need that's missing - a toolkit like this won't have absolutely everything)

Then you'll have good tools you use a lot, the Lidl tools you use rarely (cone spanners, bottom bracket remover, etc) are probably good enough for occasional use and you'll have them handy for when you do find you need them - which is usually on a Sunday when the bike shop's shut and you couldn't just nip out and buy one.

 

[Mortiroloboy]

The Lidl tools will presumably be cheap (and some of them may be nasty...)

Not in my experience, cheap yes, bu not nasty, OK so they're NOT park tools, but they are made in Germany and seem perfectly adequate for occasional home mechanics.

Some will say cheap tools are a waste of time and money, you should buy decent stuff, that cheap tools will break or will damage your bike.

Fair enough, I agree, but any comprehensive toolkit will include some tools you use a lot, some you use once in a blue moon, some you never use.

Sure I haven't used EVERY tool in the kit, but the ones I have had occasion to use are easily worth the £19.99 I paid, and One Blue moon I may have need to use the others.

I'd buy the Lidl one, work-out what you use a lot (allen keys, screwdriver, pliers, cable cutter, etc) and buy them in a decent make.
(plus anything you need that's missing - a toolkit like this won't have absolutely everything)

Good to see we agree on something then.

Then you'll have good tools you use a lot, the Lidl tools you use rarely (cone spanners, bottom bracket remover, etc) are probably good enough for occasional use and you'll have them handy for when you do find you need them - which is usually on a Sunday when the bike shop's shut and you couldn't just nip out and buy one.

All things considered, for under twenty quid you cannot go wrong.

 

[hubgearfreak]

The Lidl tools will presumably be cheap (and some of them may be nasty...)

you're probably right. leave them on the shelf for not so snobby people

 

[andy_wrx]

Good to see we agree on something then.

Err, you seem to be agreeing with everything I said...

 

[giant man]

Lidl tool kits are both cheap and nasty, there is a reason they're so cheap. I bought one last year, used it for the first time and the chain splitter and whip tools both fell apart in my hands. Not impressed.

 

[Mortiroloboy]

Yes that's right, the reason they are cheap is that Lidl are a German supermarket chain, selling stuff at the sort of prices our own shops should be, not over inflated prices that gets the UK it's well deserved nickname of 'Treasure Island' cos we pay too much for EVERYTHING here.

You should have taken it back for a refund or replacement, alternatively go on line and give Wiggle an extra £20 for the same toolkit with a different brand name on it.

 

[skwerl]

we pay too much for EVERYTHING here.

except for stuff from Lidl it seems

 

[giant man]

Yes that's right, the reason they are cheap is that Lidl are a German supermarket chain, selling stuff at the sort of prices our own shops should be, not over inflated prices that gets the UK it's well deserved nickname of 'Treasure Island' cos we pay too much for EVERYTHING here.

You should have taken it back for a refund or replacement, alternatively go on line and give Wiggle an extra £20 for the same toolkit with a different brand name on it.

No I shouldn't, it should have been sold and 'fit for purpose', not fall apart. You seem to be bigging up the Lidl stuff and I'm not sure why. All their stuff is cheap for a reason as I have already said, their clothing won't be as good as kit costing four or more times as much and it won't last. Simple as that. In my case, with the tool kit it's a case of once bitten twice shy. Their stuff is cheap. You pay peanuts you get crap, that's how it works.
As far as we pay more for everything over here, yes but we are not here to discuss the politics of government are we.

 

[Gerry Attrick]

No I shouldn't, it should have been sold and 'fit for purpose', not fall apart. You seem to be bigging up the Lidl stuff and I'm not sure why. All their stuff is cheap for a reason as I have already said, their clothing won't be as good as kit costing four or more times as much and it won't last. Simple as that. In my case, with the tool kit it's a case of once bitten twice shy. Their stuff is cheap. You pay peanuts you get crap, that's how it works.
As far as we pay more for everything over here, yes but we are not here to discuss the politics of government are we.

You spend your money how you like GM. I've had a look at the Lidl kit and for the money it is unbeatable. (I have an engineering background so I feel qualified to pass a reasoned judgement). No, it isn't produced from the finest CrVa alloys, but for the use a DIY mechanic is going to give it, it will be fine. If you were going to use it to apply huge torques, then it would likely be lacking, but we are only talking of cycle torques FHS.

 

[Plax]

I've just picked up the Lidl tool kit. I'm pleased with it. It's not the best quality in the world but it will do the average lay person that won't be using the tools 24/7. No cable cutter though which is a shame. A cable cutter would have been the icing on the cake.

 

[killiekosmos]

Got one today. Seems reasonable quality - similar to some of the bits and pieces bought from LBS. Good value at £19.99. At weekend I'll practice by dismantling son's old bike :-)

 

[Spoked Wheels]

Their stuff is cheap. You pay peanuts you get crap, that's how it works.

I don't really agree with that comment. I have purchased quite a few cycling items from Lidl and Aldi and I cannot complaint. I bought shoes and pedals from Lidl last year and they are still going strong and they are definitely not crap. I do cycling as a hobby and I don't see the point to spend 3 or 4 times as much for a branded item that will do the same job and I could not care less if the winter jacket reads Crane at the back, I know that it keeps me dry and warm and that is good enough for me.

It really makes me laugh when people say "you would never see me shopping at Lidl" Like shopping at Lidl is for the less fortunate. My local Lidl is located in an area that is well known for expensive houses and lots of the local people shop there. My wife buys most of the vegetables there even though Tescos and Waitrose are in the vicinity too.

I bought the tool kit today and I'm pleased with it. I will not test the 15mm spanner to remove the pedals couse I know that is a job for my BS last year, I got my LBS to install the pedals for me and I saw him do it, he did it so tightly!!! I bet he was making sure I'd come back next time I needed new pedals the following week I got myself a pedal spanner from another BS but I could not remove the pedals.... I have not used the LBS anymore, I use another shop now.